Long Live
by Reidash
Summary: Salamandra Brooks is a rather average young witch attending Hogwarts, all save her knack for trouble and the experiences it gives her! AU-ish, maybe; Fred lives. FredxOC in later chapters. Rating may change by chapter; T now to be safe.
1. New Beginnings

CHAPTER 1

Title: New Beginnings

Chapter Rating: K+

Welp! The 100 fanfic challenge just didn't do it for me. I've been reading the Harry Potter series lately however and it inspired me to write regardless, so I thought I'd start over and write Salamandra's story properly, without_ too _much "Tarantino order." So here we have our standard boring origin story, yadda yadda – it's actually more about Salamandra's parents than she herself, but I don't mind that! They're interesting and quickly get phased out as soon as she goes off to school anyway. A lot has changed since what I'll now consider the "first draft" in the form of "Our Wicked Ways," so I hope these developments are satisfactory for any potential readers! Alas, onto the juicy first chapter; enjoy!

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><p>"I'm here ter inform yeh that yer daughter, errr—what wassit…" Sneaking a peak back at the letter, the hairy giant of a man grinned beneath his bushy beard and continued quite naturally. "Salamandra, has been accepted into the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft an' Wizardry!" Barely needing to extend a burly arm to hand the letter over, the large man was either too oblivious to notice the corgi barking up at him or the sound simply didn't reach him at that height.<p>

"Hogwarts School of…Witchcraft and Wizardry?" Mrs. Brooks gasped hard, one hand hovering over her chest as the other clutched the letter with arm extended, as if it would bite her if held close enough. "What does this _mean_, Connor?"

"You're the one with all that fortune tellin' mumbo jumbo about ya', ain't ya', Mel'? Why don't _you _tell me?" her husband answered through a scoff, plucking the letter from his wife's fingers to inspect it himself. Brow furrowed, he wasn't about to accept the letter at face value. "S'probably just a prank. 'Er math teacher _did _call her a witch once, didn' she?"

"Rest assured, sir and ma'am, this is no prank! Yer daughter is a certified witch! Well—not quite certified yet, but by the time she graduates, definitely!" the large man nodded reassuringly, fidgeting awkwardly as he leaned under the door frame to reach eye contact.

"Oh, well _that's _a relief!" Mr. Brooks guffawed.

"Oh, Connor!" the woman squawked in return, snatching the letter back and adjusting her glasses to read it more closely. "But you're right – I _did _predict this! I knew there was something more to our daughter, much more than the ordinary—"

"'scuse us, will ya'?" Mr. Brooks smiled politely to the giant who had suddenly showed up at his door, pulling his wife aside to whisper. "Yer sayin' you really believe this letter…sent here by the biggest damn man I've ever seen…claimin' all these stories about witches n' wizards – they're all _real_?" There was a sharp glint in his eye; whether it was a challenging one or one of excitement, Mrs. Brooks couldn't tell – not yet. She grinned sheepishly behind the letter.

_"Yes."_

Mr. Brooks broke out in a grin to match his wife's, and he threw his arms around her triumphantly. "Oh, you had me at _'she'll need a broom!'_"

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><p>Connor Brooks, a hard-working Irishman, had always been looked down upon by his family for his fanatical ideas of <em>not being alone<em> in the world. Connor preached passionately that humans needed to treasure the environment, and treat even the animals that they enslaved with respect.

"That cow yer' milkin' – you don't think she hoped t'feed her children with that? That horse yer' ridin' – y'don't expect he wanted to run free on the fields instead'a workin' fer' a livin'? Equality For Animals!" he would shout, holding up his protest signs until his arms would tire.

Melody Smith, on the other hand, had never been the same since she studied over in America. Raised a proper British young woman, her parents were disgusted by the sight of the peace-loving, free-thinking _hippie _she had become. Refusing to eat meat, speaking her mind even when incredibly rude, and neglecting to cut her hair for what seemed like years, it was only a matter of time before Melody dropped out of school to go into the field of _fortunetelling_.

Needless to say, Connor Brooks and Melody Smith were a match made in heaven. Their whirlwind romance had them married within months, whereafter they settled down in a big house in Little Sprite, Ireland – a small town about 50 miles south of Dublin.

During her first pregnancy, Mrs. Brooks would never be able to sit still without gazing into her crystal ball or shuffling through her tarot cards routinely at least thrice a day. Even if her ability to "see" was all a load of nonsense, it gave her the peace of mind to relax. Mr. Brooks obligingly took over the household duties, cooking and cleaning (the former of which Mrs. Brooks was rather lousy at to begin with, her _organic _recipes causing more stomachaches than her pregnancy was sure to.)

"Oi, Mel'!" Mr. Brooks shouted on one occasion, a box full of old books heavy in his slender arms. "You ever gonna' do anything with these or can I just toss 'em?"

"NO!" Mrs. Brooks shrieked, sitting up urgently. "Those are _important! _Passed down from my mother's mother's mother's mother, y'know! My mother wanted to throw them away anyway, but I saved them. They're _important._ Just put 'em by the bed, dear."

Exploring the books, she read all sorts of stories about witches and wizards and beasts and creatures for weeks. From majestic fairies and unicorns to fearsome dragons and the more obscure grindylows, Mrs. Brooks relived her childhood fantasies all over again. One creature in particular fascinated her the most: the salamander. Recalling how she once tried to put a lizard in a fire as a child and how it only burned to death, she laughed out loud.

It was no wonder that when weeks later, the Brooks' first child was born, Mrs. Brooks blurted out the first name that came to her mind when prompted by the doctor: "Salamandra."

"_Salamandra_?" the doctor and Mr. Brooks seemed to utter in unison, equally unsure as the other.

"Because I want her to be able to walk into any fire bravely, without harm," Mrs. Brooks explained, eyes set on the wailing infant in her arms in a fond, trancelike stare.

After a moment, Mr. Brooks shrugged. "Sally fer' short?"

While the doctor's face only contorted more, Mrs. Brooks looked all the more pleased.

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><p>Unfortunately, Mrs. Brooks' wish behind her daughter's name had come all too true. As she got older, she only became more energetic – and more of a handful. It was only at three weeks old that Salamandra broke one of Mrs. Brooks' oldest and most treasured crystal balls, sending her mother into a fit. At five weeks of age, one of Mr. Brooks' protest posters received handprints and smudges of paint on it that resembled the size of little Salamandra's knees. He found a baby covered in paint, grinning shamelessly within minutes.<p>

They tried everything to expel her energy: increased playtime, the smallest amount of sugar in her diet possible—they even invested in a Welsh Corgi puppy they called Duke to be her playmate, but even Duke's energy was worn out before Salamandra's. Her brother, Murphy, born five years later, was dubbed the _normal_ one.

By the time she was attending school, her energy had only _slightly _decreased, but Salamandra was dubbed a troublemaker from the start.

"Me mum told me when I was very young that I could be anything I'd like t'be," she once kindly explained to Mrs. Green, an arithmetic teacher, who hardly appeared to be understanding. "I'd quite like t'be somethin' that doesn't have to use math!"

It was written in the stars indeed that Salamandra would be far from ordinary.

"Sorry it's a lil' short notice n' all; with a name like Salamandra, you'll blend right in, despite bein' a muggle-born!" the large man, who had belatedly introduced himself as Rubeus Hagrid, apologized for nearly failing to visit the family. While taking up a majority of the couch on his own, Mrs. Brooks' teacup was dwarfed by Hagrid's hands, so he took care to hold it gently with two fingers as he sipped at the green mixture.

"A…muggle-born? Whassat?" Salamandra sat in the loveseat nearby, legs kicking excitedly as her parents struggled to take notes.

"Oh—thas'right, you'll have ter learn a whole new language now that yer' a witch! 'Muggles', see, are non-magical folk—like yer parents, here."

"Hah! Pops, yer' a muggle!" Salamandra kindly informed her father as if learning a new bad word—an experience they had already gone through in the past.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up…" Mrs. Brooks grumbled, but all the while he was just as enthusiastic as his offspring. "But explain one thing t'me, Mr. Hagrid—"

"Just Hagrid will do," the large man quickly interrupted.

"Hagrid it is! How do a couple o'—er, _muggles_—like me n' Mel' spawn a _witch_?"

"Of course, I _am _a rather skilled fortune-teller," Mrs. Brooks smiled to herself, sipping at her green mixture in the tea cup.

"Issat so?" he coughed. "Good question! Yeh see, there's a big difference between an ordinary muggle an' a squib. A squib is a child born from magical parents who gets absolutely no magical powers at all, see, but it's dormant inside of 'em. So a squib'll go off n' have a normal, muggle life, marry n' have children with a normal, muggle partner, but that dormant magical power passes on n' on until it finally springs ter life!" Opening his hands quite animatedly, both parents and child listened intently. "An' that's how Salamandra here became a witch, or rather—she was born one!"

"Ooh!" Mrs. Brooks squealed. "So maybe those books from my mother's mother's mother's mother—are those _real_?"

"Yeh said yeh got 'er name from one of the creatures in the books?" Hagrid motioned to Sally, whose grin was so wide it threatened to spill off of her face entirely. "Most likely!"

"So I get t'go to witch school n' meet a _real _salamander—ooh, better yet, a real _dragon_?" Salamandra gasped. Hagrid let out a hearty laugh.

"I've always wanted to keep a dragon meself! But unfortunately, not on Hogwarts. Not _yet_, anyway," he said with a wink. The family spent the next hour bombarding Hagrid with more questions concerning the school, mostly the enthusiastic Salamandra, before Hagrid set off.

With the prospect of shopping in Diagon Alley on the weekend in mind, Salamandra was too excited to know what to do with herself. All of the wonders that awaited her were left to her imagination until Saturday finally arrived, and Salamandra was sure it would be the best day of her life.


	2. Cats and Cauldrons

CHAPTER 2

Title: Cats and Cauldrons

Chapter Rating: K+

YAYYY SHOPPING why did I write all of this omg. Maybe someone will read this? WHATEVER JUST GETTING THROUGH THE BEGINNING STUFF.

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><p>The only way Salamandra Brooks could think to properly describe Diagon Alley, the hidden strip of magical shops in London, was <em>magical. <em>Cliché as it was to say, there really was no other word that quite did it. A variety of buildings of all colors and shapes and sizes stood short and tall alike, and likewise, wizards of all colors of robes and some children even younger than Salamandra lurked about. It certainly wasn't a light crowd, being so close to September!

"Now, yeh'll notice real quick if yeh bring yer muggle money into a store on Diagon Alley, they'll look at yeh like yer mad!" Salamandra recalled Hagrid explaining. "The wizard currency is split inter Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts – one Galleon ter every 17 Sickles ter every 493 Knuts, and 29 Knuts ter every Sickle. Got it?"

"Is—is there somewhere we can have this _converted?_" Mrs. Brooks asked pensively, lips pursed.

"Well, yeh see, another perk ter keepin' them old books of yers—" Hagrid located one in particular, pointing at a name that had been scribbled on the very last page's bottom corner. "It makes trackin' yer wizardin' heritage back a lot easier when we've got a name already waitin' for yeh!"

Perhaps the easiest building to spot out of all of them was the towering Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Vault 311 was the one Hagrid had told the Brooks family to ask for. It took some time for them to even be granted access to the small vault ("Even these wizards have t'deal with this much paperwork, what a waste o' good trees!" Mr. Brooks had complained) but indeed, after tracing Salamandra's blood back to her great-great-great-great grandmother's, Salamandra Brooks was identified as the next rightful heir to the small fortune of Cassandra Hollingberry.

After a cart ride to the vault, during which her parents embarrassingly hooted and howled as if on a roller coaster ride as the exasperated goblin guiding them sighed loudly, they had arrived to what had to be _underground. _Stuffing as much as she could into her small shoulder bag, Salamandra felt rather well off already, though the vault was rather small. After a day of shopping for school supplies, her parents suspected, she wouldn't have that gloating 'I'm rich' look about her for much longer.

"Alright, mum, pops – I'm a witch, a fully capable witch who can do her own shoppin', so I don't need y'to guide me t'every store from here! I can do this on me own!" Salamandra declared, fists on hips and head held high. Exchanging a look, both Mr. and Mrs. Brooks had to grin, with her father being the first to reach out and ruffle the frizzy hair she had attempted to compress with a headband.

"One letter from a wizardin' school and yer' already full of yerself, eh? Well, we'll take yer word fer it!"

"Really?" Salamandra gasped. She hadn't expected her plead to work at all, but Mrs. Brooks gave her a gentle smile.

"_We _want to do some sightseeing on our own, of course, so as long as you stay out of trouble—and don't come asking us to exchange any of _our_ money for those Knickles and Socks because you spent too much in the first store!"

"Alright!" Salamandra practically roared in triumph, punching the air. "I won't let ya' down! Love ya!" And with that, Salamandra was off, skipping in a near-run to find the first store of wizarding supplies with great enthusiasm.

"Lessee, robes, hats, gloves…dragon hide? Ooh, maybe we _will _meet dragons!" she squealed to herself, looking about and wandering absently before locating Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Hagrid had recommended several shops, most of which she forgot the names of but vaguely remembered the _sounds _of, and this had to be one of them.

Unlike many girls her age, when Salamandra went shopping, she was _focused_. It was hard to sell her on an item she had no interest in, and it was rare for something she hadn't planned to buy ahead of time to catch her eye. Upon entering Diagon Alley, however, Salamandra's focus may have swayed a bit. This was a whole new world, after all, and a whole new array of products that Salamandra hadn't even dreamed existed before a few days ago! For Madam Malkin's, the temptation wasn't _too _strong; while the variety of colorful, glamorous robes she saw were pretty, she was just too accustomed to her muggle clothes to find them significant.

"Hogwarts, dear?" a small, plump woman in mauve greeted her, who Salamandra identified as Madam Malkin herself. Being personally fitted for her own uniform gave her a brief feeling of self-importance, only slightly replaced by disgust at the prospect of wearing a skirt for a whole year. Reminding herself to pack a few extra pairs of shorts to wear under the uniform, that was easily checked off of the list of items she needed without spending too much of her ancestor's good money.

While she was nearby, Amanuensis Quills was right next to Madam Malkin's, and although the variety was huge, it was a large, swooping peacock quill that caught Salamandra's eye. It was a little more pricey than some of the others, but it was too pretty to pass up! Quill, check. Salamandra was thankful she wandered over to Potage's Cauldron Shop next, as the standard size 2 pewter cauldron required for first years at Hogwarts made an awfully handy thing to carry her increasing amount of goodies. Recalling Hagrid said that the ink and parchment in Scribbulus Writing Implements is the best of its kind, that was where she stocked up. A few more things crossed off, and Salamandra's shoulder bag still felt decently heavy with wizarding currency. Her parents would be so proud!

Salamandra was entirely sure she wouldn't be too intrigued by the concept of _books_, having never been all too studious in her muggle school, and so her next stop was Flourish and Blotts to pick up all of the first year required texts. She had forgotten completely, however, about the concept of magical creatures, and quickly found herself browsing the magizoology section for far longer than planned! _Remember_, Salamandra had to tell herself, _they trusted ya' to spend yer money wisely. If I resist these books…I can buy me own dragon!_ she convinced herself, nodded firmly, and paid for the supply.

Her cauldron was becoming quite heavy and with a quick check of her watch, Salamandra had realized she had already been shopping for over an hour despite her immense concentration on buying _only _what she needed. A trip to Slug & Jiggers Apothecary stocked her up on a few of the miscellaneous supplies, while she dubbed her small haul from Wiseacre's Wizarding Equipment the last of the "boring" stuff. Now it was onto the fun stuff, Salamandra thought, glowing at the few items remaining on her supply list.

"'ello?" Salamandra timidly spoke to the air upon entering the small building labeled Ollivanders Wand Shop. For a moment, she had thought the dusty old place was empty, but was thankful to see she wasn't the only one there. Greeted by the sight of countless thin, long boxes making up every wall, Salamandra was awestruck. Another family was leaving just as she entered, and the dark-skinned girl passing her on her way out gave Salamandra an excited little grin. She couldn't help but mirror it before she realized the old man behind the counter was urging her to come forward.

"Here for your first wand, aren't you?" he spoke with a kind twinkle in his eye. "Welcome to my shop! I am Ollivander, as you may have guessed; and your name is…?"

Enchanted for a moment by the man's silvery eyes, Salamandra had to shake her head to answer: "Salamandra Brooks, sir!"

"Ah, a fiery name for a fiery girl, I'd imagine! But, well, I'm much better at reading people through the wand that chooses them—"

"Chooses _them_?" Salamandra tilted her head, brows wrinkling. "Y'mean I don't get t'pick _my _wand?"

"But of course, my dear! If every young witch and wizard were to pick out their wand, logically they would pick only the most popular, without necessarily considering if that wand _agrees _with them. There are no two wands exactly alike, you see, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are alike—and I forgot to mention, those are the very cores that are the source of magical power in Ollivanders wands," he explained with a compressed enthusiasm, retrieving a measuring tape as Salamandra considered his words. "Now, Miss Brooks, which is your wand hand?"

"Er—that's the same as yer writin' hand, is it? This one!" she answered, extending the right arm to be measured in several various ways she hadn't expected.

"Good, good – let's begin, shall we? First, I have this one…"

After failing to find a match in an 8" wand of Ash and a 12" wand of Cherry ("a close call, but not quite there yet," Mr. Ollivander had said), it seemed there was only a single wand left in the old man's shop that was suitable for Salamandra.

"Here we are, this should do it!" he declared with confidence, opening the lengthy box to reveal a dark wooded, almost _curly _in shape wand. "Chestnut, ten inches, rather bendy, with a unicorn hair tail core. Go on, give it a swish—"

But Salamandra, who had already become used to the elimination process, was already waggling the wand in the air, hoping not to knock any other wand boxes off of their shelves this time. Instead, red and gold sparks emitted from the very tip of the wand, and Mr. Ollivander was clapping while the girl's eyes reflected the sparks she had caused to fly.

"Good, very good! It doesn't take all too long to find your wand, see?" Gingerly taking the wand back from the girl—admittedly, with a bit of a fight in grip—Ollivander set the wand back in its box, tying it up with a brown ribbon. "I expect with this particular combination, you'll find yourself allied to justice quite easily. An affinity for nature, too?" Salamandra nodded eagerly, causing the old man to give a wrinkled smile and present her with the box. "I wish you the best of luck with your new wand; come back to see me if you have any problems!"

Staring in awe at the box, she kept both hands on her cauldron to prevent any possible damage from coming to the wand box in particular. Finally giving in to the temptation of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, Salamandra partook in her first taste of strawberry and peanut butter ice cream – just as magical as the whole day had been.

With still a fair share of jingle left in her bag, Salamandra tried to keep in mind what Hagrid had said about the sweets cart on the Hogwarts Express. The only remaining item on her list, however, was what she had been waiting for all day—even more than that, in fact.

Salamandra had always wanted a cat—or two. Her weakness for animals was inherited from her father, certainly, but between Duke and baby Murphy, the Brooks family already had their hands rather full. The prospect of a magical pet shop only made Salamandra even weaker in self-control; it wasn't like they could say no to something on her list of school supplies!

The two main stores for a magical familiar seemed to be Magical Menagerie and Eeylops Owl Emporium, but seeing the emphasis on the _OR _in the list of acceptable magical companions, Salamandra opted for the shop with the largest variety. The smells and sounds inside were almost exactly like a muggle pet shop, but the _sights _were a whole new experience. Toads, rats, slugs, lizards, cats, and unidentifiable balls of puff were on every wall, along with a decent supply of items for care of the creatures. The span of colors in the animals were well beyond the palettes of the creatures she'd seen in her local shelter, for certain.

Making a beeline for the cats, Salamandra was in paradise. The cats here even looked different from the cats she was used to! Some cages had names and some were labeled 'Kneazle hybrid,' which Salamandra expected was a sort of magical breed. While some kittens mewled loudly for her attention, and other larger cats looked as if they were too good for the place, the one that had caught her attention was a large brownish Abyssinian at the bottom of the cages, batting at her shoelace so desperately that his entire paw up to the armpit was sticking out through a small hole in the cage. Kneeling over to see that one in particular more closely, Salamandra beamed.

"Hello there!" she spoke, and the cat paused, retreated his paw, and actually seemed to _smile _as if answering her. Giggling, Salamandra stuck a finger through the cage, which Mocha—as he appeared to be named on his cage's label—rubbed his cheek against happily. With his brilliant green eyes reflecting her face, Salamandra hadn't even noticed the saleswoman approach her.

"Looks like you made a friend there, eh?" she spoke through an audible smile. "Mocha there has been hanging around for a while, but I can't imagine why. He's a little on the old side, but he's bloody brilliant," she boasted for the cat, who almost appeared to be smiling once again. "Manages an escape at least once a day for some ice cream, but always comes back before I lock up!"

"Oh—" Salamandra giggled. "Maybe he wasn't _here _to be purchased, eh?"

"I wouldn't be surprised! Anyway, he's just a plain old cat, no Kneazle blood—but he's very helpful, and as I said, smart. Doesn't fidget around for transfiguration or nothin'."

It didn't take much more talking for Salamandra to agree to buy the beauty.

"Oh no…" was Mrs. Brooks' first reaction to the cat when parents and child reunited, Mocha padding along Salamandra's feet smugly. It had been a successful day indeed—Salamandra even had sweets money left, but her parents insisted that they try the food at the Leaky Cauldron ("even if these magic folk really do eat eyeballs, it's still better than yer mum's cookin'," her father quietly joked.) Although the food at the Leaky Cauldron was about the same as any old restaurant, Salamandra found it the most delicious she'd ever eaten – perhaps due to the sweet aftertaste of victory still digesting.

In two weeks, she would be departing for a dream come to life.


	3. The Hogwarts Express

CHAPTER 3

Title: The Hogwarts Express

Chapter Rating: K+

Here we are, now the pairing is starting to show itself! It won't be much of a _focus _for a bit, but it's a start, right? It's fun to write as the twins before they were, y'know, on screen—it's a lot of creative freedom, but I'm still trying to do my best to stick with what's likely to be canon! Even if I'll be violating it a bit by the Battle of Hogwarts. Also note I'll probably be skipping around a bit more after all of this standard first year just starting stuff. Just feels proper to write the origins as thoroughly as possible for now! Enjoy!

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><p>"You're <em>sure <em>you have everything you need, Salamandra, dear?" Mrs. Brooks asked for what Salamandra had sworn to be the thousandth time.

"_Yes_, mother, I _swear _I checked me trunk about ten times! Even brought some treats fer' Mocha," the girl responded with a grin, lifting the cover of the basket to peek in at the lanky brown cat. Mocha seemed to be quite comfortable, despite the slightly bumpy ride atop the trolley.

"I mean, how do we mail you something if you've forgotten?" her mother whined in return, before a squeeze on her shoulder was intended to help her relax.

"You heard 'er, Mel' – she checked everythin' already! We won't have ta' mail a thing, right Sally?" Mr. Brooks spoke with a wink. He was often the less fussy of her parents, but Salamandra could understand their worries. Even she had to admit she was quite nervous, although she merely nodded back to her father's words in response.

"I'll be back fer' the holidays, anyway! Unless a dragon eats me," Salamandra stated with an inappropriately sing-songy voice, causing her mother to fret all the more. She and her father both laughed off her statement easily, the young girl leading the way with her trolley.

"So where in the heck are they hidin' this platform nine-n'-three-quarters anyway?" Mr. Brooks pondered aloud, squinting around King's Cross station cluelessly. They couldn't be the only muggle-born family present, and especially not the only family with a child about to be sent off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

"Nine and three quarters, you said?" a voice called out nearby. All three heads turned to acknowledge the voice, belonging to a short and stout woman with red hair. Likewise, accompanying her were several other heads of flaming hair – several boys of various ages and one girl, quite younger than Salamandra. The woman smiled warmly, and immediately, Salamandra suspected her to be a witch – in the best way possible.

"That's right—" Mrs. Brooks began, before Salamandra eagerly turned her trolley into the red-headed family's direction.

"Lookin' to get to _you-know-where!_" Salamandra spoke quite loudly, with an exaggerated wink. Some of the younger children by their mother's side snickered quietly.

"Oh, I _see! _You're a first-timer, dear? Fred and George here are, too," the woman answered with a discreet chortle of her own, motioning for the family to join their little group. "It's right over this way—oh, and where are my manners?"

With Salamandra's parents slowly lurking behind her to join their enthusiastic daughter, the woman smiled curtly, one hand attached to her young daughter's. "Molly Weasley; this is Charlie, Percy, Fred, George, Ron, and Ginny—oh, Percy, don't look so anxious. Go on through, you know the way! You go ahead, too, Charlie—and what were your names?" Preoccupied to say the least, it was hardly surprising considering the size of Mrs. Weasley's family. With a casual wave to the muggle family from the older boy and barely a nod from the other, two of Mrs. Weasley's sons disappeared through a wall between platforms nine and ten. Salamandra gasped. Her parents were likewise awestruck before realizing that Mrs. Weasley was still speaking to them.

"Oh! Melody Brooks; this is my husband Connor, and this is our daughter Salamandra…" Mrs. Brooks spoke rather timidly. "Did…did your sons just walk through that wall?"

"Nice to meet you all! Oh, but it's almost time," Molly fretted, giving her young daughter's shoulders a pat. "We should get going! First-timers, aren't you? All you have to do, Salamandra, is go through this wall here—it's a spell, you see, so muggles won't wander in. A bit of a run might give you more confidence if you're worried. Fred, George—lead the way!"

"Gladly," one of the sets of twins spoke with a grin, readying his trolley while the other followed suit.

"Been waiting years for this!" added the other, and one after the other, they disappeared behind the brick wall. Already impressed by the show of illusion, Salamandra squealed and clapped her hands, earning a strange stare from the only remaining Weasley boy.

"But if it's t'keep muggles out—can we come, too?" Mr. Brooks asked on the brink of disappointment. Mrs. Weasley chuckled.

"Of course! Muggle parents are still part of our world now. Do you think you can manage leading your parents, Salamandra?"

"You _bet _I can!" Salamandra practically howled with excitement, pulling back her trolley before running straight forward through the wall without much concern for making a scene. Nearly crashing into the Weasley twins' carts on the other side, Salamandra had to skid to a halt while the Brookses and remaining Weasleys worked their way in.

And that wasn't even the best part. Before Salamandra and the rest was a great scarlet train, labeled the _Hogwarts Express. _Mouthing _'wow…'_ it was clear that none of the magic had even begun to wear off for the muggle-born, and her parents were possibly even more easily impressed.

"Thank you_ very _much for your help," Mrs. Brooks shook Mrs. Weasley's hand with gusto while both parents were preparing to exchange goodbyes. "Salamandra, dear!"

"Huh?" was the girl's response, snapped out of somewhat of a trance.

"Listen to your teachers," "don't get into trouble; I'm sure wizardin' detention is harsher than our world's," "never be afraid to speak your mind," "please don't bring home anymore ruddy pets," and several more reminders were listed off in turns by her mother and father, which Salamandra only nodded through as if to agree to every word. Finally, however, the clock was at 10:59 and Salamandra had to depart. After shoving her a group hug and an embarrassing kiss on the forehead from her mother, Salamandra boarded the great train, amazed at every detail on the inside just as much as the out. With a great huff and puff of the engine, the train chugged off, starting on the journey to a place Salamandra up until now could only _imagine._

Nearly every compartment was full of people that she didn't know, many of which were far older than she and absorbed with catching up with their friends. Not wanting to be a hindrance, Salamandra spotted two twin heads of red and opted to flop right into the free seat with the Weasley twins, who responded by looking at her like she had committed a crime.

Smiling brightly, the oblivious, frizzy little girl was the first to speak after shoving her trunk under the seat and letting Mocha out to flop down by her with equal ease. "Hi! It's okay if I sit here, right? I mean, since yer' mum was so helpful n' all, and you two're the only faces I recognize, and we're all just startin' at Hogwarts an' all—"

"Okay, but on one condition," one of the twins spoke, brows raised.

"—you don't talk that much anymore," finished the other. Rather than take offense, Salamandra snickered.

"Sorry, I get a little carried away sometimes! Me teacher—me _muggle _teacher—says I'm the most talkative student in class. I'm Salamandra Brooks, by the way, but just Sally is fine if y'prefer. Someone called me 'Mandy' once too, n' that's fine by me as well. Whichever suits yer' fancy!"

The twins exchanged a look. It seemed it wouldn't be a quiet ride, but they each mirrored the other's shrug and spoke in unison: "You don't say?"

"I'm Fred," spoke the left twin.

"And that makes me George," said the other. Salamandra attempted to commit any different features of theirs to memory, but quickly realized they were impossibly identical and only nodded to their introduction.

"Nice to officially meet'cha!" the girl beamed at them both, while Mocha crawled over to sniff at each of the twins; perhaps his nose would find a difference in them, but he didn't seem to have any luck so far either.

"So you're a muggle-born, huh?" Fred spoke with a small grin, as if speaking to some foreign creature he'd only heard of in storybooks. "You're lucky our dad wasn't here. He's _obsessed _with muggles—"

"—works for the Ministry of Magic. The Misuse of Muggle Artefacts Office. He collects…what do you call 'em, Fred?" George finished his twin's sentence before starting a second one, a habit Salamandra quickly noticed they fell into commonly.

"_Pugs_, I think—anyway, you don't wanna get him started on muggles!"

"_Pugs_?" Salamandra giggled. "What's the Ministry of Magic?"

Exchanging a look that could only be accurately described as judgmental, the twins furrowed their brows at Salamandra.

"You don't even know what the Ministry of Magic is?" George asked.

"They really don't tell you muggle-borns what you're really getting into, do they?" Fred finished. Salamandra's head tilted and before she could talk again, the twins kept at it, a hint of mischief twinkling in their matching eyes.

"I bet that means you weren't warned about what goes on at Hogwarts at all, huh?"

"Luckily, our brothers have been going for years, so we know _exactly _what goes on…"

"The train's real nice and all, but they're just trying to get you to let your guard down," George explained.

"As soon as we get there, you see, it's like a _prison_."

"First, you get sorted into Houses—there's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin—"

"Some say Slytherin is the worst house to be sorted into, but I think it's Hufflepuff—"

"—but the sorting is awful, from what I hear. They just throw darts at you and whichever color hits you is your house."

"Not to mention that to get from the train to the castle at all, you have to swim through the lake…"

"…which has a giant squid in it that feeds on children."

"And then there's the forbidden forest, which is right by the school. I hear there's giant, man-eating spiders in there."

"Where do you think they send you for detention?" George egged his twin on with an elbow and a grin.

"And you can't tell your parents about anything, so good luck trying to get out of it now…"

"Yeah, if you try to snitch, they'll turn you into a test subject for new potions!"

"Not to mention _You-Know-Who…_" Fred finally glanced back at Salamandra now, his grin matching George's.

"Oh, that's going too far, Fred! You're gonna scare her before we're even halfway there…"

Salamandra was stunned into silence. The boys finally saw that her jaw seemed to be stuck agape, eyes wide and watering. Perhaps making her cry was going a bit too far, but for Fred and George Weasley, pranks were an art form.

"…t-this place…" Salamandra started, a hand raising to her own cheek. "It sounds even better than I expected!"

"I know, I know, but it's all—" Fred began, before his and George's eyes both matched Salamandra's in width.

_"What?_" was spoken in unison and Salamandra nodded eagerly.

"Giant squid? Creepy forest with scary monsters? I mean, I should probably be a little scared, but—that's _so cool!_"

After a moment of stunned silence of their own, the twins muttered quietly before both nodding.

"Er—well, we _might _have been exaggerating the truth a little…" Fred admitted, features contorted.

"—we thought you'd react a lot differently," George confessed likewise. Salamandra grinned.

"_You don't say_?"

When had the tables turned on them? Despite their first impression of her, the Weasleys' lopsided smiles suggested that they learned Salamandra's wits were higher than they had expected. Before they knew it, they had made something of a friend.

The conversation, from there, had changed directions quite a bit. The twins spilled to Salamandra what they _really _knew about the school, while Salamandra confessed she was disappointed there weren't really dragons guarding the front gates. After about an hour had passed, a kindly woman pushing a cart filled with goodies slid the door of their compartment open, and Salamandra's eyes filled with stars.

"Anything from the cart, dears?" spoke the woman, and the young girl jumped to her feet immediately.

"One of everything, please!"

"Oh my," chuckled the woman, working to retrieve everything Salamandra had wanted while the girl practically bounced. Noting that the other two hadn't said a word, Salamandra eyeballed them, muttering a quick "'scuse me" to the cart woman.

"Oi, aren't you two gettin' somethin'?"

"_Well,_" Fred started with a sigh. "We can't exactly…er…"

"Mum made us sandwiches," George added, shrugging.

"Our family's kind of…er…"

"Charlie and Perce aren't getting anything either, I'm sure."

"Oh." It hadn't occurred to Salamandra that poverty even occurred for _wizards. _It did make a bit of sense that not all families could just magic more money into existence, though it was a nice thought. Shrugging, she returned attention to the cart woman, who exchanged a tray full to the edges with goodies for twelve Sickles and five Knuts.

"Wait—two more o' those pumpkin juices, please!" Salamandra added at the last moment, causing the woman to back up and exchange a couple of cold sweating bottles of pumpkin juice as well. Looking quite proud of herself, Salamandra handed one each to Fred and George, and shooed Mocha away from licking the crème off the top of a chocolate cauldron cake.

"You didn't have to do that," George practically winced in response to Salamandra's charity.

"But Mum always said never turn down an act of kindness—so _thanks_," Fred finished, and eliminating any inhibitions they had toward accepting generosity, the twins each took a big chug of the juice while the girl beamed.

"Go ahead, then—I'll share a bit! Just a _bit_, though, I've been savin' me own money just fer' this cart. Spicy foods're my favorite, but I have such a weakness fer' sweets it's silly," Salamandra confessed with a frown, crossing her arms indignantly. It seemed she always had to share as much information as possible before it was no longer her turn to talk, but she thought she heard the twins snicker that time. Through exaggerations of the truth and a little bit of pumpkin juice, Salamandra was confident that she had secured her first friends in the wizarding world.

"Oi!" Attention shifted as the door to the trio's compartment was shoved open, and a dreadlocked boy with a brown smear on his face appeared quite disgruntled. "Whose chocolate frog just hopped onto my face?"

Each of the three pointed at each other.


	4. Our New Home

CHAPTER 4

Title: Our New Home

Chapter Rating: K+

Okay, this should be the last of the boring introduction stuff. I just really wanted to get some things established well before skipping around in time and generally having shorter chapters. It should be a little easier to read from here on, promise!

* * *

><p><em>"Whoa,<em>" was spoken in unison, not only by Fred and George Weasley this time, but uttered by both Salamandra Brooks and Lee Jordan as well. They were all in the same boat, both figuratively and literally, of entering their first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It had taken a few moments to convince Salamandra she could trust her luggage (and more importantly, her cat) to be properly taken care of, but she had forgotten those concerns entirely. As the four of them crossed the lake, the castle's glory became all the more appreciated. It was certainly a larger structure than Salamandra had ever seen, from the gargantuan oak doors surely awaiting them to the several towers, the tallest of which Salamandra had to tilt her head straight back to fully bring into view.

"Almost there, now!" Rubeus Hagrid had shouted back to the hundred or so new faces, each struck with equal amounts of admiration as the next. Even the odd haughty pure-blood rich boy hadn't truly known what to expect once they departed from the Hogwarts Express.

"What d'ya think we're gonna do first?" Salamandra gasped, the excitement in her voice blatant.

"Eat, I hope," Lee Jordan answered, his stomach agreeing with a loud rumble. The twins only snickered.

"We get sorted first," Fred started—at least, Salamandra _thought _it was Fred.

"—_then _we get to eat, from what Charlie told us," probably-George finished.

All of the nerve in Salamandra's system had been completely beaten down by pure excitement. The fact that she was accompanied by friends – or something like them – and she had seen Hagrid again first thing off the train had given her more confidence straight off. Fred and George split a joke about the welcoming feast actually consisting of the new students being fed to the Black Lake's giant squid, but everyone had seemed to become too caught up in suspense to speak once their boats had reached the castle.

"Come along, everybody here?" Hagrid lifted his lamp to double-check his head count, muttering 'looks 'bout right' outside of the hearing range of anyone not paying enough attention. The castle was still a bit of a hike away, although it was much larger than it had appeared from across the lake. The hundred-or-so fresh faces followed the gigantic gamekeeper up the winding stone path, with Fred and George speaking their horrific expectations of the sorting process loudly enough to induce some frightened whimpers from the less suspecting ones.

Finally, the stone steps led the first years up to the massive oak doors. Hagrid knocked thrice and the doors were swung open by a woman with her hair in a tight bun, lips already pursed; Salamandra somehow suspected they were stuck that way most of the time.

"All here, Professor McGonagall," Hagrid nodded to her, turning his lantern to the faces of the new students.

"Thank you, Hagrid," she said, ushering the students into a small chamber lit by torches, faced by a marble staircase. Her lips twitched, but she did not quite smile. "Welcome to Hogwarts," she began, before explaining the whole Sorting Ceremony and, furthermore, the House Cup – whichever house had the most points at the end of the year, she explained, would win the honor of holding it.

"A cup?" Salamandra scoffed quietly, muttering so only the three males near her would hear. "What's the big deal of a cup? Unless it's filled with Galleons…" Fred, George and Lee snickered, muttering in agreement. Professor McGonagall shot a look toward their general direction, however, and they all were silenced immediately.

"Now, you will be sorted accordingly into one of the Houses in front of the school in just a moment. I shall return when you are needed; please wait quietly in the mean time," Professor McGonagall said, leaving the chamber and the students within to their imaginations.

After a speech from the Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, an old, dusty hat was set out on a stool, and it performed a rather catchy tune, much to the new students' surprise. Before she knew it, the Sorting Ceremony had officially begun, and Salamandra realized with dread that it would be in alphabetical order. Far before her new friends would she be sorted, and with equal dread would she hope that she wouldn't land in "cunning" Slytherin after she had heard of their particular association with the Dark Arts.

"Briggs, Daniel!" called Professor McGonagall, to which the pondering Sorting Hat quickly decided "HUFFLEPUFF!" Salamandra practically winced. From what she had heard from others, Hufflepuff was the most dreadfully _ordinary _house of them all—something Salamandra never wanted to be.

"Brooks, Salamandra!" was Professor McGonagall's next name called, and with a deep breath, the girl put on her best poker face. Striding up to the Sorting Hat with purpose, her head was engulfed by the wrinkled old thing, and the view of all of the nameless faces staring at her in anticipation were replaced by nothing but black fabric.

"Hmmm," a voice reached her ears. "A precocious one, are we? Eager to learn, yet curiosity seems to outweigh it all, undaunted by the concept of danger…your bravery will take you far, young one."

Wondering if she should utter 'thank you' in return for the quick analysis of her character, the hat bellowed out: "GRYFFINDOR!"

A cheer erupted from the Gryffindor table, which Salamandra observed to be engulfed by shades of scarlet and gold, a lion for its emblem. Features slowly forming a small, proud grin, Salamandra set the hat back where she had found it and gave a discreet wave of triumph to the boys she had left in line for Sorting. Spotting two other familiar heads of red hair at the Gryffindor table, Salamandra recalled their names to be Percy and Charlie, each of whom nodded courteously to her as she scooted into place at the same table, scooted near the only other first-year who had been selected for the same house.

Salamandra had to admit to a bit of anxiousness as the line of first-year students became shorter and shorter. She was leaning over the table, bobbing her head at every which angle in order to best see the students being sorted as the hat went through "Davies, Roger" ("RAVENCLAW!") and "Diggory, Cedric" ("HUFFLEPUFF!") before finally reaching "Jordan, Lee" just after "Johnson, Angelina," both of whom had joined her at the Gryffindor table.

"Think they'll make it?" Salamandra muttered to Lee Jordan, who was just as antsy as her in seeing if the twins would follow the apparent Weasley tradition of landing in Gryffindor.

"I hope not!" he said, grinning. "They owe me five Sickles each if they don't!" It seemed that the twins had been confident they would indeed be joining their table, and finally, the alphabet had been narrowed down to the W's.

"Weasley, Fred!" was the first one called out. With the same mischievous curve of a smile on his face as always, he took his turn under the hat and was quickly revealed to be in "GRYFFINDOR!" Almost smug as he tugged the hat from his head, he said quite loudly "knew it!" which induced a brief fit of laughter from near tables. Squeezing in between Salamandra and Lee, Fred was more eager than anyone to see his brother's sorting. For a moment, Salamandra thought, he almost looked concerned.

"GRYFFINDOR!" was repeated, and the table cheered, with Charlie Weasley even standing up and applauding for both of his younger brothers, who in turn rose to their feet and bowed. Salamandra, for one, was incredibly pleased that she had made it into the same house, even as the twins took turns tapping her on the opposite shoulder from where they sat and feigning their best innocent looks afterward.

"Well then, welcome!" Albus Dumbledore announced to the crowd, each of the tables now filled to the brim with new students. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts; now, before we all fill our stomachs—I know, it was a long journey—I have a few words I'd like to say." Pausing, he cleared his throat, before blurting out four words in particular: "Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak! Thank you."

Sitting down, Salamandra and several other first years felt they had just witnessed an inside joke that they weren't filled in on. No stranger to quirks, however, Salamandra had to at least snicker. Within moments, the students were far more occupied by the food that had magically appeared before them to worry too much about the mental health of their headmaster.

All of the traditional food found in Great Britain that Salamandra could think of had conjured on the table in front of her, prepared in better quality she'd seen in any restaurant and certainly _worlds _better than the 'organic' swill her mother liked to experiment with. Without any shame, Salamandra was practically stepping over anyone necessary to load her golden plate up with everything she could fit—roast chicken, pork chops, roast potatoes, peas, carrots, and gravy. Pleased to see that the delightful pumpkin juice she had chugged her first bottle of on the Hogwarts Express was served as the standard beverage, she barely made time to breathe between bites of food and gulps of the sweet beverage.

"Slow down, Sally!" Fred said, although his cheek was stuffed full of food as well.

"I'm almost afraid she'll take off a finger if we reach too close, Fred!" George added, grinning. Salamandra glared at them both, and while still chewing, loaded up a spoonful of mashed potatoes, pulled it back with one finger, and launched it off toward the twins with eyes in a sinister squint. Seeing the potato catapult coming, both twins ducked simultaneously, leaving the unsuspecting Lee Jordan—who had previously been speaking to Angelina Johnson—to be pelted.

"Not _again!_" he wailed, having already had Salamandra's chocolate frag splat all over his dreadlocks on the train. Before he could retaliate, Angelina stopped him, motioning to a quickly approaching man dressed entirely in black robes, matching hair and eyes equally dark. Returning to his food immediately, Fred gave Salamandra's side a nudge, motioning to the hook-nosed man as he approached the High Table.

"Watch out for that one if you plan on starting anymore food fights," he whispered.

"That's Severus Snape, the Potions master—a right foul one, I hear," George explained. "Since he's head of the Slytherin house, he's anxious to take points away from Gryffindor for any old reason. Once took a whole fifty from Charlie just for being out of bed at night."

"Sounds like a pleasant fella'," Salamandra grumbled, leaning over and grinning apologetically to Lee Jordan: "sorry about that, by the way."

The feast had continued without any further particular events, only Fred and George (seemingly) joking about enslaved former students cooking the meals, before dozens of desserts replaced the sparkling clean plates. Salamandra's eyes went wide and Fred and George knew better than to comment on her appetite that time. She indulged herself in chocolate éclairs, jam doughnuts, trifle, and washed it all down with ice cream and strawberries – simultaneously, as she had taken to dipping the fruits in the chocolate cream quite contently.

"I can't remember the last time I've eaten that much," Salamandra confessed, to the amusement of her fellow Gryffindors; she certainly wasn't the first student to overindulge on their first day.

"After all that on the train, too," George said.

Shaking his head, Fred joined in the teasing: "We'll have to roll you around between classes if you keep that up!"

Feeling fuller than she had in years, Salamandra was almost relieved to see the desserts cleared out as well, as the headmaster had prepared to say a few more words.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils, for your own safety more than anything—bare this fact in mind and we won't have to send any owls to worried parents," Dumbledore spoke with a twinkle of jesting in his eye, but that didn't stop Salamandra from grinning. Looking back at Fred, George and Lee, they seemed to agree with her thought.

"If it's forbidden, why is it even there?" Fred had said quietly on the way up the stairs after the singing of the Hogwarts fight song and their final dismissal.

"It's like it _exists _just to test us," George said in turn.

"Like they're hiding something awful in there—were you guys serious about the giant spiders?" Lee pondered aloud, Salamandra giggling.

"I suppose this is all leading up to us going to find out?" she guessed. Four devilish grins sprouted, causing the prefect guiding them to Gryffindor Tower to squint at them suspiciously before telling them the password, introducing the Fat Lady, and leading them into the common room.

"No wandering in the halls in the evenings, of course," the prefect explained, going through a list of rules he seemed to have memorized. "Your things are already in your dorm rooms—girls on the left staircase, boys on the right. Get plenty of rest; breakfast will be in the Great Hall, as always, and first years will be expected to turn up to their classes on time. As for the rest of you, I expect you know the rules by now. Come along, then," he broke off his explanation, ushering students accordingly to the separate sides of the stairs. Salamandra exchanged waves with the trio of boys she had spent most of the evening with, before she and four other first year girls found their beds.

If the common room itself was lavishly decorated, Salamandra was even more deeply enchanted by the sight of their dorm room.

"_Wow…_" was a common utterance of hers on that day that repeated itself once again.

"It's…beautiful!" squealed Alicia Spinnet.

"As expected of Hogwarts," gasped Angelina Johnson.

The sight of the room in front of them was quite glamorous. Besides the window with a beautiful view of the grounds, the curtains of the windows and each of the five four-poster beds were each lined with velvet crimson. Next to her rather plain room at home, this was the most extravagant sight that Salamandra had laid eyes on. And, indeed, just as reported, each girl's luggage was placed at the foot of one bed, with Mocha, Salamandra's cat, sprawled cross-pawed in the middle of the bed nearest the window.

The girls exchanged short introductions but were all equally exhausted, especially with their bellies so full. Each changed into their night dresses and were rather quick to fall asleep, Salamandra in particular soothed into her slumber by the sound of Mocha purring by her pillow.

With everything she dreamed of already at her fingertips, she couldn't much recall what she had dreamed of, but she was quite sure it had to do with chocolate frogs and Fred and George Weasley.


End file.
